Electric power cables are frequently routed underground, particularly in congested areas, using concrete enclosures, commonly known as manholes, located below grade for housing spliced cables that are continuous or form junctions for individual cable take offs. The cable junctions, or take offs, are commonly used for serving individual electric power users. In the early 1900's to on or about the year 2000, a lead sheath was installed by electrical utilities on multi-conductor power cables. This lead sheath formed part of the neutral system in multi-grounded high voltage electric power distribution systems. The lead sheath was electrically insulated from the electric cable steel supports in a manhole to prevent corrosion caused by neutral currents. Insulation was initially provided for the electric cable by porcelain cable saddles which supported the electrical cables. These porcelain cable saddles were very brittle and highly subject to impact damage or breakage. Environmental problems with porcelain manufacturing byproducts also inspired replacement of the porcelain insulated supports with injection molded products in the 1980's. In addition, the use of larger electrical cables carrying increased electrical load necessitated additional cable support. For example, with the increased electrical power a conducting cable undergoes increased contortion as it expands and contracts greater distances along its length with load cycles and heavy fault currents. This expansion occurs primarily in manholes, with the cables applying upward and sideways pressure on the cable saddle. In some cases, cotter pins were used to secure the support saddle to a support bracket. However, the cotter pins were difficult to install in the steel cable supports, and thus were frequently not properly installed, and cables and splices were subject to falling off of the metal cable support resulting in cable joint damage, failure, subsequent service interruptions, and costly repairs. In the 1980's, cable joint support saddles were introduced and molded from high molecular weight polyethylene (HMWPE).
The present invention addresses the aforementioned limitations of the prior art by providing for the safe and fixed positioning of one or more electrical cables in a manhole of an underground cable run using high strength, insulated cable saddles for supporting the cable(s) and/or splices or junctions of the cable(s).